Death And Taxes

Have you ever owned a stock, or piece of real estate that you wanted to sell? You felt the time was right to take your profit and run. Did you then not follow through with the sale because "the taxes would kill you?" This is what I call "making a decision based on taxes." It is not "Good Horse Sense." What is horse sense? This is where the horse knows that a certain spot is dangerous and it will not step there. The rider, not seeing the danger, sometimes pushes the horse to move forward, but the horse refuses. People quite often will not trust their "sense." Women are known for their "instincts" about people. Men are not always as "sensitive" of their instincts as women are. Lets get back to business instincts.

In the stock market the smart money always says, "Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs lose money." What does this mean? It means, "Never be afraid to take a profit." If it is time to sell, sell! Take your profit and wait until the time is right to get back in. Taxes sometimes make this very difficult. If you sell, the taxes may eat up 30-50% of the profit.

Then again, if you do not sell, when you think the timing is right, you may lose 100% of the profit and some of the principal. It is always smarter to make your business decision first. It is also very important to not consider the tax consequences while making this sound business decision. After you have decided what you want to do based on sound business strategies, then you see your tax accountant and figure out how to do the deal, so as to pay the lowest possible taxes. Do not do it the other way around. Which means, selling when you have a tax loss or a real loss because there would be no taxes to pay.

Many an investor, because of the fear of taxes, held an investment all the way up and then all the way down. The economy runs in 7 to 10 year cycles of boom and bust. Sell in the booms and buy in the busts. If you do not sell at the top, there is no money to buy at the bottom. If your accountant is worth his fee, he will figure out how to shelter the sale. Do call him before making the sale, so he can tell you how to structure the deal. If he can't help you, get a new accountant. An accountant's job is not to do your tax return. It is to advise you how to pay the least taxes using all of the legal tax avoidance techniques, allowed by the IRS.

I have a friend who owned millions of shares of Microsoft. He was worth millions of dollars. Microsoft was the only thing he owned. He was an employee of the company and received stock options. He came to me worried about the company and asked me what to do. I suggested that he sell some of the stock and buy real estate. He was afraid to change horses and paying income taxes worried him. He decided to stick with Microsoft. Two months later Microsoft lost a court case and the stock price crashed. He now tells me "After it goes back up I might diversify." How much do you want to bet on him doing anything? "After the horse is out of the barn, it is too late to close the gate."

I met a man who owned an apartment building in the worst part of San Bernardino. In 1991 he was offered $600,000 for his building, but he refused it because of his concerns for capital gains taxes that he would have to pay. Over the next 8 years, the San Bernardino economy went down hill along with the real estate prices. His building became so vandalized that it was eventually boarded up. He sold the building to one person who thought he could repair the building. He couldn't and our man foreclosed and took the building back. Again he sold the building, for $280,000 this time.

This second buyer also couldn't make it work and today the second buyer stopped making the payments. He is also going to give the building back. Our man has had lower cash offers but he keeps trying to get as close as he can to that old $600,000 price. Therefore he keeps selling and financing that property so as to get a better price. He hasn't learned that sometimes it is better to take the money and run.

Never bet the farm on a sure thing. The only sure thing is death and taxes. Also remember that the bank is not going to be nice if you get in trouble. Always have enough cash reserves, and keep your expenses down so you can always have money for food, insurance, gas, etc, and the low house payment. Accountants may give good tax advice but it may not be good business advice. So, NEVER MAKE A BUSINESS DECISION BASED ON TAXES.

Best long-term investment in today's market?

The stock market is very unstable. At this time it is going up and down while interest rates are so low that you want to be a borrower and not a lender. Would you like some suggestions on how can you get the most out of low interest rates while being assured your principal will not disappear while you are trying to make some money? Of course, there is always the danger of borrowing the money and then spending it just because it is there.

So, would you also like to know what is the best way to borrow money at today's low rates without spending it? Ok, here goes, buy real estate. Not any real estate but real estate that will hold its value, even if single family houses go down. It is apartment buildings. Because apartment rents are still going up, the value of apartment buildings have the best chance of appreciating while everything else goes down.

Low interest rates mean that you can have a positive cash flow at real estate purchase prices you would have lost your shirt on, even two years ago. Rates are currently 4.5% to 6.5% interest rates when we used to pay 9% for apartment loans just a few years ago. Apartments have become a better investment for two main reasons. First, carrying costs (interest costs) have been going down. Second, income has been going up, substantially. Can things be better than this? YES IT CAN.

I have developed two programs. One is to take people with a small net worth and build an estate or self directed IRA (tax free retirement plan) that is worth up to $800,000 in 15 years and that generates an income of $60,000 per year with both still going up after that.

For those that can put together $100,000 to start I have developed a second program where the numbers come in at $1,300,000 net worth, with a $100,000 annual net profit and in only 10 years. Unbelievable? Yes, and with low risk as well! This comes out to be a 25% annual return with no roller coaster stock market ride. I figured out how to do it and it really works. I have done it before and I know many now retired senior citizens that have done it in the past.

The problem today with most 50+-year-old baby boomers is that they never got started on building a retirement fund. So now, instead of having the normal 30 years to build a retirement fund, they need to be there in 10-15 years. It might take one year of financial hell to come up with some cash. (That means no money for anything except accumulating cash) But after that, it can be a sweet painless ride to wealth. The best part is the possibility of failure is less than 10%, if my steps are followed

First: The money is not touched for 10 years. That is why a trust fund, IRA or a self directed retirement plan is a great place to put this.

Second: I have taken my 30 years of real estate experience to develop exactly which properties will give the biggest appreciation and cash flow and also be the best risks. Interestingly, almost everyone I talk to picks the wrong locations to buy until they hear the whole list of criteria.

Now that I have told you the lazy man's way to riches, let me tell you the downside. You have to have the correct timing on your purchase. In Dec 2001, everything was in place to do these two programs, in Los Angeles County. Unfortunately, by July 2002, the numbers didn't work any more. They did still work in Florida, for example, but not in Los Angeles. What happens is that prices go up after the rates go down. The seller sees how good a deal the buyer can get and raises the asking prices. So! Your timing to start these programs is very important. Do not be discouraged, though. If the numbers do not work today, it will work sometime tomorrow. The system is sound, and since we are talking long-term wealth accumulation, a little patience can go a long way.